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Client integrations

The stable installer treats a client surface and its execution mode separately. This prevents a desktop application from being labeled “local” when a specific chat or Cowork session actually runs in the provider cloud.

Capability matrix

Client surface Execution Localhost Installed package/access Verification
Codex Local Yes Dual-host plugin, stdio MCP, CLI Automated real recall
ChatGPT Desktop Codex Local macOS host Yes Shared Codex marketplace plugin with stdio MCP + CLI config Install/restart and guided real recall
Hosted ChatGPT Chat/Work/web Remote service No direct access Remote MCP only, subject to plan/admin policy Unavailable for this local install
Claude Code Local Yes Dual-host plugin, stdio MCP, CLI Automated real recall
Claude Desktop Local macOS host Yes JSON stdio MCP, CLI Restart and guided real recall
Cowork local session Local session, account-managed extensions Not installer-verifiable Account-synced skills and policy-approved connectors Unavailable for installer verification
Cowork remote session Anthropic cloud No direct access Remote MCP only Unavailable for this local install
Cursor-style JSON adapter Local Yes JSON stdio MCP, CLI Restart and guided real recall

OpenAI documents that the ChatGPT desktop Codex host shares the local Codex MCP configuration, while hosted ChatGPT plugins use remote MCP. Anthropic documents Claude Code plugins and account-synced Cowork skills as separate installation surfaces. Sources checked 2026-08-14:

Answer Engine does not operate a public remote MCP relay or bypass workspace policy. Select unsupported surfaces if you want the installer to explain the limitation; it will not write a false localhost configuration for them. On the supported Windows baseline the installer runs inside WSL2. It supports terminal clients there, but does not write Linux-home MCP/plugin paths for ChatGPT Desktop or Claude Desktop on the Windows host.

Managed paths

Before one explicit consent prompt, the installer prints every selected path. Depending on the client selection, these include:

  • ~/.agents/plugins/marketplace.json and ~/.agents/plugins/plugins/answer-engine for Codex and ChatGPT Desktop Codex.
  • The Codex marketplace plugin (Personal by default, while preserving an existing marketplace name) owns the Codex/ChatGPT Desktop MCP entry; the installer does not create a duplicate ~/.codex/config.toml server entry.
  • $AE_HOME/client-plugins/claude-marketplace for the registered Claude Code marketplace and plugin source.
  • ~/.claude/plugins/known_marketplaces.json and ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json, plus host-managed plugin caches, when Claude Code performs the user-scoped marketplace and plugin install.
  • ~/.codex/config.toml and the host-managed Codex plugin cache when the Codex CLI installs the Personal plugin. The installer does not add a direct MCP server block there.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS. WSL2 does not receive a false Linux-home Claude Desktop entry for the Windows app.
  • ~/.cursor/mcp.json for a global Cursor-style adapter, or project .cursor/mcp.json when that adapter is already project-scoped.
  • ~/.config/answer-engine/config.yml for stable CLI access.
  • $AE_HOME/integrations/ledger.json and private backups under $AE_HOME/integrations/backups.

The ledger contains hashes, paths, client IDs, and redacted verification status; it never stores the API key. MCP entries launch the server inside the managed runtime and contain no API credential. The CLI handoff file remains mode 0600. Re-running a matching plan is byte-stable, and drift is rejected instead of overwritten.

Install and remove

Run the checksum-verified release bootstrap in INSTALL_AGENT.md first; these commands use the installed launcher and never fetch an npm package.

create-answer-engine install \
  --channel stable \
  --clients codex,claude-code

create-answer-engine remove-integrations \
  --channel stable

Legacy installations that placed ANSWER_ENGINE_API_KEY directly in Claude, Codex, Cursor, or Claude Desktop MCP configuration can migrate selected entries without printing or copying the key:

create-answer-engine migrate-legacy-credentials \
  --channel stable \
  --clients codex,claude-code

The migration preserves unrelated MCP servers, writes a private backup, and replaces only the Answer Engine entry with the installer-managed Docker launcher. Existing client processes must be restarted after the exposed key is rotated; the old process argument becomes harmless once that key is revoked.

--agents remains an alias for --clients. Use --cowork-mode local or --cowork-mode remote only after confirming how Cowork will execute. Staging must use --clients none and cannot write global integrations.

Removal uses the ledger in reverse order. Unchanged managed files are restored from their original backups, while user-edited client files keep unrelated entries and lose only installer-owned MCP/CLI/marketplace fields. A pre-existing Answer Engine MCP entry is restored from the private backup. A modified plugin directory is preserved for manual reconciliation.

Completion semantics

The direct remember, recall, and lineage check runs first. Codex and Claude Code then run non-interactively and must emit an Answer Engine recall tool event containing the unique marker and expected content ID. GUI-only supported clients must be restarted and confirmed through the guided challenge. A headless install does not auto-select guided clients and cannot mark an explicitly selected one complete; rerun interactively or remove it from the selection.